Wreckfest is one derby racing game that I have loved from its very beginning, and I am a huge fan of Bugbear Entertainment’s work since the very first Flatout title. I have played Wreckfest on PC and all consoles and when I heard that this brilliant derby racing game is coming to Nintendo Switch, I was extremely excited because this would mean that I could take the game anywhere I go with me in my pocket. However, when we think of a Nintendo Switch release, we always think of poor visuals and low framerates, and this is exactly why I wanted to try it out on Nintendo Switch as well. So, without any further ado, this is our review of Wreckfest on the Nintendo Switch in which we bend some metal and crash into our opponents on every corner because this is how it is done here.
Career is your official path of the Wreckfest where you get to unlock new cars, take part in various series, and unlock additional events by earning stars. There are no annoying tutorials at the start of the game so you can jump into whatever mode you want right from the start. Your custom vehicles in the Career mode are also available to you in normal offline and online modes. The Custom Event Tab lets you create your own event with custom settings, and you can take the action online as well with online Multiplayer. You can jump in custom games or take part in events taking place all over the world. You can even create custom servers and invite up to seven friends for ultimate mayhem. This is an excellent feature on the Nintendo Switch however for all of the online modes and content, you must have an active Nintendo Switch Online membership otherwise you will not be able to create custom servers or join your friends online.
You get an XP based unlock system where all of the event types that you complete in the game give you XP and every time you level up, you unlock new performance parts, new vehicles, and new visual customization bits. The Tournament system has its own currency Fame while the game has its own XP and CR based unlocks and purchases. Every vehicle that you unlock needs to be purchased first apart from the bonus vehicles such as the Bus, Lawn mower, or others but the normal cars will cost you money and even more money if you want to upgrade them with performance parts. Visual customization is also present in the game, and you can visually customize your vehicle. Visuals do not alter the performance of your vehicle, but you will need to watch out for performance upgrades since protection parts will make your vehicle heavier and slow, and performance parts will make them lighter and faster so it’s a compromise you must make in the game.
Coming to the gameplay of Wreckfest on the Nintendo Switch, one thing you will notice instantly is that the visuals are toned down to better optimize for Nintendo Switch. However, the visuals might lack shine however the damage detail on vehicles and other particle effects are still great. Explosions look decent enough and the carnage has some really cool effects even when toned down for the console. The frames are smooth and no matter how many cars are on the screen at the same time, there are no frame drops even when they are colliding with each other, and vehicle bits are flying here and there. Car customization plays a vital role in gameplay, and you can purchase and equip better parts to increase both the protection and the performance of your vehicle.
Normally you will not expect destruction derby titles to be very detailed when it comes to car tuning and their handling characteristics, but Wreckfest presents an excellent mix between simulation and arcade when it comes to vehicle handling. You have various assists in the game to make it easier such as TCS, Stability Control, and ABS however you can turn them off and experience the true power of vehicles in the game. You can slide out RWD vehicles in corners and punch through dirt tracks with AWD vehicles, but you must watch out for their stiffness around corners. Each vehicle handles uniquely in the game, and you can further alter this behavior by installing performance parts. You can even head over to the Tuning section to further adjust your car’s handling behavior to suit to your driving style.
The Tournament tab takes you to the Seasonal activities that you can complete in the game to earn Fame and unlock exclusive rewards. Since the Nintendo Switch release comes way after the original release, Bugbear has included all of the previously released exclusive vehicles in the Tournaments Store as well so you will not miss anything here. You can still earn enough Fame and unlock all of the vehicles in the store right from the very first Tournament which was released on the previous-gen consoles and PC initially. This is a really good step by the developer because this makes the Nintendo Switch release the definitive release because it brings everything to the game that has been released for the game until today including all of the DLC cars and packs. You can add the DLC content in two exclusive packs or just buy them separately if you just want specific vehicles and customization options.
One of the things that impressed me the most was the loading times for the menu as well for the races. I played Wreckfest when it came out on Xbox One and during my review, one of my main concerns was the exceptionally long loading times for the game. The Nintendo Switch version actually has a smaller loading time than the OG Xbox One at launch which is a really promising thing for the release. Despite the hardware limitations, Bugbear Entertainment has worked its magic in making the release as stable and as optimized as possible. It is obviously slower than PCs running SSDs or an Xbox Series X but it is still really impressive since it has beaten the previous-gen titles in this.
Most of the time when I start playing a Nintendo Switch release of a title, I am always a little hesitant because the game usually lacks behind severely when compared with even the previous-gen consoles Xbox One and PS4, but I was extremely happy to see that Wreckfest is a solid release for the Switch. The visuals are obviously toned down, but the overall presentation and the high-speed action are the same. It brings every single content bit from its previous releases including online and offline modes, vehicles, modes, DLC content, and the Tournaments along with their rewards so you will not miss anything that the PC or the Xbox or PlayStation players experienced previously. The game looks great and runs exceptionally well on the portable console and I am glad that Bugbear Entertainment did not disappoint on this key platform as well.
Final Review:
Wreckfest is my all-time favorite derby racing game, and I was extremely excited to see it coming on Nintendo Switch. Despite the weak hardware, Wreckfest runs exceptionally well on both the normal Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch Lite. I am extremely amazed by the brilliant port which runs near flawlessly on Nintendo’s flagship console. It brings all of the crazy action, the metal-crunching racing, and a plethora of content to keep you busy for a long time. If you have been craving some crazy metal-bending racing on the Nintendo Switch, the definitive derby racing game is now available on Nintendo Switch, and you should get it right now.
Final Score: 9.0/10
